Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Attack

I've noticed a new trend in political discussion lately. It's an oldie, but a goody. Once you've run out of points or realize that you're losing the argument...you attack someone else that happens to agree with your opponent.

It's amazing how many times I've heard people say, "Did Rush/Sean Hannity/Talk radio/Fox News tell you to say that?". I've heard it dozens, if not hundreds, of times. I've never personally said, or even heard anyone else say, "Did Oprah/Keith Olberman/Al Franken/NPR/Jerry Springer tell you to say that?" I'm sure it happens on both sides...I'm just telling you what I've seen/heard. Two guys were talking about a fairly non-political issue yesterday and one of them said, "why don't you go back to listening to Glen Beck" and he sort of walked away. It's just an odd way of furthering a discussion...right?

It's the new go-to end of discussion - I'd rather win than really grow - these days. I know it's a bit of a throw back. There was a time when you could throw "commie" into the discussion and quickly put someone on the defensive. People do it with Christians by calling them "Holy Rollers/Bible Thumpers/fill in the name of a Christian leader you don't like".

It's name calling. It's a way to divert the discussion into an area where you can feel superior.

It's cheap, lazy and sad. It's also effective. McCarthy was great at it...and it's alive and kicking these days too. And if you disagree with me, well you're just too busy listening to Dave Coulier to get it...

it's worth noting that McCarthy was generally right, and there was good reason to be scared of Communists in the United States.

It bugs me to see "McCarthyism" used as a malediction.

In fact, the use of the term "McCarthyism" is essentially the same thing as you were complaining about above. If someone has something to hide or embarassing to try to keep quiet, and someone starts to call them out on it, they just scream "McCarthyism!"